Draft mechanism



` e endof a'draw bar-to secured together,

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To all whom t may Y'o o/:Www: Be it `knownthat l, `Groen- G. a` citizen of the United' States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofv4 lpiers quickly but it doubles or triples the -lllinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Draft Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

rlhis invention relates to draft mechanism and more particularly vto draw bar yoke vmechanism. v

lt is common practice to connect the rear the draw bar yoke by a plurality of rivets. 'lhese rivets of necessity must be quitelong. 'llhe use of rivets for connecting the draw bar and draw bar yoke is -quite unsatisfactory. ln the first place, it is very difficult to upset a rivet of the necessary-length and at the same time fill the rivet, holes' thoroughly. ln the second place, it is quite impossible to upset a rivet of the necessary 'length for the reason that the rivet merely bends in its unsupported portions within the hollow draw bar. Such being the case poor riveting results, the rivets promptly becoming loose, wearing badly and, due to the fact that the middle .portions of the rivets are unsupported., the rivets bend asthe result of the work required o'f them andeventually their heads are pulled 0E, rendering the rivets useless. Another disadvantage in using rivets is that the yoke and' draw bar are permanently necessitating the removal of the en tire draftkgear when. it is desired :to remove the coupler, 4the yoke, or re-rivet the yoke to the coupler.

vTo overcome some of these disadvantages, instead of using two rivets a flat key has been used to connect .the draw bar and draw bar yoke, the width of the key being substantially the diameter of the rivets' used and-thebreadth of the key .being such as occupied by the rivets and in addition thereto the space therebetween. ln retaining this fiat key in place thas been the practice to provide said. key vwith a head at the upper end thereof so` th'at'the weight of the key rests upon the head` the lower end 'of the key being provided with a cotter pin or bolt to prevent displacement of the key. However,

havingthe' headlon top as hereto-fore used, 'means' that thecoupler and yoke and draft -gear necessarily 'mustbe taken down as a unit .to renew the coupler. This is undesirg am?, OI in most instances, the only part Whlch requ'es mimi? the coupler?V A 4great many small repair points along railroad lines can make repairs to `replace couwork and the time required if the wholel draft gear must be taken down to renew a coupler. l

Accordingly, one object o my invention is to make it possible to readily assemble and Ydisassemlole the draw bar and draw bar yoke in their normal positions to facilitate repair. or the parts in question.

Another object is to provide a simple, novel and ecient connection between a draw bar and draw bar yoke adapted to meetall of the requirements .under service conditions.

A further object is to provide a key connection for draw bars and yokes whereby the ke)7 may be applied to and removed from operative position from below the draft mechanism without having totake the whole mechanism down, and to provide means for" maintaining `the key in operative position.

'lhese and other objects are accomplished by means of the arrangement shown on the accompanying sheet of drawings in which- Figure 1 is a topplanview or the draw bar and draw bar yoke connected by my novel connecting means;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same parts, the connecting means being shown in side elevation;

Figure 3 is a sectional view Itaken in the plane of line 3-3 of FigureQ; and

and yoke arms 11 and 12 having vertically l arranged registering openings 13, 14 and 15, respectively, for the reception or `the connecting means between the draw bar 10 and the draw bar yoke arms 11 and 12.

As mentioned above it is desirable for the weight of the key to be suspended from the head at its upper end, but at the same time itAV is undesirable to provide the key with such a head at the upper end which will require complete removal of the entire draft gear when it is desired only to Areplace the` l necessary that the upper end of the key bey draw bar. As a matter of tact, it is quite provided with some sort of head or enlargement to prevent the upper end of the key from being drawn under the upper yoke arm as the result of pulling strains, .for it is readily apparent that if there was no head at the upper end of the key there would be a tendency forthe top arm of the yoke to slip over the top of the key.

ln solving this problem, taking advantage of all of the bad features, l have provided a fabricated connection. between the draw bar and draw bar yoke including three vertically and adjacently arran d members 16, 17 and 18, the member `16 bemg the key proper and being interposed between the members 17 and 18 which l choose to call fillers. 'lhe` key 16, as will be observed from Figures 1 and-2 is in the form of a bulb beam, the

beam being I-shaped in section, generally' speaking. The enlarged orbulb portions 19 ofthe beam are substantially the same width filler members 17 and 18 occupy portions of the openings directly adjacent the web portion 20 of the key. The lower ends of the key-16 and filler members 17 and 18 are provided with transverse registering openings for the reception of a bolt 21 for holding the three members or fabricated structure together, the bolt being provided with a nut 22 and @otter pin or other suitable it will be noted that the upper ends of the filler members 17 and18 are provided with laterally extending head portions 24 and 25 respectively, whereby the key in eiect is provided with a head for engaging cooperating shoulders 26 and 27 respectively, formed in a recess 34 in the upper arm 11 of the draw bar yoke for supporting the key. The ll'er members 17 and 18 also are provided with laterally extending projections 28 and 29 respectively, which may'cooperate with .shoulders 30 and 31 respectively, formed in a recess 35 in the lower arm 12 of the draw bar yoke. rlhese heads prevent the key from being drawn-to the inside portionsof the draw bar yoke arms 11 4and 12, and thereby provide a vconnection between the draw bar yokeand draw bar which is eective at all times.

in assembling the parts either one of lthe filler members 1-7 or 18 may beset in place as shown in Figure 3, thenthe other filler member is set in place as shown in said tigure and then the key is inserted between the liller members 17 and 18 and the bolt 21 passed through the lower ends of all of said members to connect thel same together, therenecesa@ by forming'a strong connection between the. draw bar and draw bar yoke, which at the same time permits ready assemble and disassemble of the parts in question, the weight' of the fabricated structure being sustalned,

by the A,head portions 24 and 25.

It is realized that no matter. how tight bolts may be set and no matter if ,split keys Y are used in connection with bolts and nuts,

there is always a chance for `the nuts and position and thereby cause the draw bar and. draw bar yoke to become disconnected, I

have shown a modified form, .illustrated in Figure 4,- which will overcome this 'undesirable feature. A ller j members 17 and 18 are set in place In this connection when thek the lbwer ends thereof are bent into the posil i tion shown by dotted lines in Figure 4, it being noted that the lower ends of said filler members are provided with inwardly. extending projections 32 and 33, respect1ve1y. After the key 16 isset in place the bolt 21 may be passed through the'enlarged openings in the filler members, and also through the re istering opening of the key 16, whereupon t e nut 22 may be drawn up to such an extent that the inner sides of the lower portions of the filler members 17 and 18 actually engage the sides of the key 16 in which case the inwardly extending projections .32 and 33 underlie the key 16.4 It has been ascertained as a result 'of experiment that when the lower ends of the vfillerv members are drawn from the'position show-n by dotted lines in Figure 4 vto the position shown in full lines in Figure 4 by the use of'a one inch bolt andA a nut, the projection 32 will still underlie the vkey 16 a 'sucient amount to prevent the key from dropping, even though' the bolt 21 is removed, thereby providing a doubly safe arran ement.

lt 1s my intntlon to cover all modifications of the invention falling within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

.`1.` lin draft mechanism, a draw bar and a draw bar yoke having registering openings, means for connecting the draw bar and yoke, said means includin a'key of l-shaped conformation itting within said openings,- and filler-members mounted adjacent to the web portion of said key'on the two sides thereof, the planes of separation between the web portion of said key and said members lying longitudinally of said draw bar and yoke, said members each having a shouldered portiony in engagement with said yoke at the top and bottom thereof for holding purposes, said members having portions extending beyond certain of said shouldered porlil@ Maaate tions, and means mounted in said extending portions for connecting said key and memers.

2. ln draft mechanism, a draw bar and a draw bar yoke having registering openings, means for connecting the draw bar and yoke, said means including a key of shaped conformation fitting within. said openings, and ller members mounted adjacent to the web portion of said key on the two sides thereof, 'the planes of separation between theweb portion of said key and said members lying longitudinally of said draw .bar and yoke, said members each having a shouldered portion in engagement with said yoke at the top and bottom thereof for holding purposes, said members having portions extending beyond certain of said shouldered portions, and means mounted in said extending ortions for connecting said key and mem ers, said extending portions lapping over said end.

3. lin draft mechanism, in combination with a draw bar, a draw bar yoke having vertically registering openings, means for connecting said draw bar and said yoke, said means including a key and a member mounted alongside of said key, said member having shouldered portions in engagement with said yoke at the top and bottom thereof for holding functions, said member being provided with a portion extending beyond one ofsaid shouldered portions, and means extending through said key and extending portion for holding said key and member against relative movement, said key and member being separated along a surface extending longitudinally of said draw bar and yoke.

a. lin draft mechanism, in combination with a draw bar, a draw bar yoke having' vertically registering openings, means for connecting said draw bar and said yoke, said means including a key and members mounted alongside of said key on the two sides thereof, the planes of separation between said key and said members extending longitudinally of said draw bar and yoke,

ed alongside of said key on the two sides` thereof, the planes of separation between' said key and said members extending longitudinally of said draw bar and yoke, said members having shouldered portions in engagement with said yoke at the top and bottom thereof for holding functions, each of said members being provided with a portion extending beyond certain of said shouldered portions, and means `extending through said key and extending portions for holding said key and members against relative movement, said extending portions having parts projecting beyond the end of said key end. illinois` this 19th day and lapped over said Signed at Chicago,

of February, 1919.

GEGRGE G. FLOYD. 

